COMPARISON OF MAGNETIC-RESONANCE TOMOGRAPHY WITH COMPUTERIZED AXIOGRAPHY IN DIAGNOSIS OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR-JOINT DISORDERS

This study compared the accuracy of two noninvasive methods, computeri zed axiography and magnetic resonance tomography (MRT), in diagnosing temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders. Forty-seven subjects underwen t axiography and subsquent assessment of the TMJ by MRT. The statistic al analysis referred to the correlations of the most relevant clinical diagnoses, i.e., no appreciable disease, disk displacement with repos ition, disk displacement without reposition, morphologic alterations, and hypermobility of the condyle. In 70% of the disk-displacement-with -reposition and disk-displacement-without-reposition patient groups, a xiography and MRT gave the same information. In other patient groups, the axiography findings agreed with the MRT findings in 45% of the cas es. It was concluded that although a large percentage of morphologic a lterations could be detected by MRT, axiography determined the dysfunc tional dynamics more clearly.